Robert Whittaker, a former UFC middleweight champion, hasn’t forgotten about a moment that left him deeply frustrated after his UFC 308 loss to Khamzat Chimaev. The aftermath of the fight took an unexpected turn when an image of Whittaker’s damaged teeth made its way online, courtesy of Daniel Cormier.
Whittaker Calls the Move “Scummy”
In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned, Whittaker didn’t hold back his feelings about the leaked photo.
“I was super annoyed! It’s such a scummy thing to do,” Whittaker said. He explained the context behind the image: “The doctor took a photo of my mouth and said, ‘I’m just going to go show Dana [White] and Hunter [Campbell] so that they know what’s up.’ And I’m like, ‘Cool.’ And then DC took a photo off the other guy’s phone to post all over socials. It’s like, is that not scummy?”
The image, which revealed Whittaker’s dislodged teeth caused by Chimaev’s face crank submission, sparked a wave of reactions. Whittaker was frustrated by the way the situation was handled, particularly because the injury wasn’t as bad as it looked in the photo.
“I was super annoyed. It’s such a scummy thing to do… DC took a photo off the other guys phone to post all over socials… Is that not scummy?”
Robert Whittaker on DC posting his mouth injury after UFC 308. pic.twitter.com/rS6trgKwaU
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 22, 2025
Online Reactions Made Things Worse
“I don’t care that much about it being out there, but it looked a lot worse than it was,” Whittaker explained. “The thing is though, because it was posted all over the place, I was getting condolence messages, like people thought I was dead. And I would have liked to control the reaction a little better, but it is what it is, what are you gonna do?”
Despite the incident, Whittaker has moved on physically, recovering in just four weeks and returning to training shortly after.
Looking Ahead to 2025
Now, Whittaker is focused on the future. With his sights set on 2025, he plans to bounce back stronger and work his way toward another shot at UFC gold. While he may have left the injury behind, it’s clear the frustration from this “scummy” moment is something he won’t soon forget.